Support Alicia's Battle Against Cancer

Hi, My name is Rekha Kanhai and I am raising funds for my beautiful friend Alicia who means Oh So much to me!

Before we get to the ugly part of the story let's give her a proper introduction. Alicia and I first met at a job in Brickell and we immediately clicked. She is so vibrant and flexible in life! Our friendship grew significantly from shopping together to her always encouraging to follow my dreams to the point that she even made a first loan available to me to open up my own boutique at the time. Alicia is a friend that is someone you can always rely on and is there through thick and thin. Everyone that meets her instantly loves her. My mom adores her and loves cooking for her and basically adopted her as a second daughter.

Now come the dark part of the story. September 15th, 2023 Alicia was officially diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. Her treatments to date have included 16 rounds of chemo over 5 months, 12 weekly Taxol 4 Biweekly A/C ' The Red Devil". In addition to the breast cancer and complicating treatment Alicia already suffered from a chronic illness (Common Variable Immune Deficiency) that has been a constant source of financial stress in itself.

Alicia sadly miscarried the only child that her and her husband Rob ever have been pregnant with one year prior to the diagnosis on September 2022. Cancer treatment now means they their hope of having a biological child is not possible.

On April 1st 2024 Alicia underwent a 13.5 hour mastectomy with immediate DIEP FLAP Reconstruction. From Day 1 following this procedure it was apparent she was suffering from wound healing issues with necrotic skin. She then underwent 10 treatments in the hyperbaric chamber. Sadly this was not enough to salvage the skin and on May 4th her abdominal incision began to open this continued to progress to cover more than half of the hip to hip incision.

On May 13th Alicia was taken back to the operating room for a complete lymph node dissection of the right axilla, due to 2 of 3 nodes removed in mastectomy still having cancer cells, and debridement of necrotic wounds. She awoke with a wound vac on both breasts and a metal wound closure device with wire woven between the metal clasps sewn to her skin complete with a dial to tighten the area to prepare the wound for eventual closure.

May 20th Alicia was again hospitalized for what was thought to be an intestinal blockage and had an NG tube placed. Thankfully there was no blockage however imaging suggests that there is fluid on her heart and lungs and is potentially facing post chemo temporary heart failure. We will not know the final result of this situation until June 17th.

On May 24th Alicia underwent her 3rd operation in 2 months. This operation included further debridement of wounds on the chest and abdomen, as well as, removal of the metal closure device. With this operation they were finally able to successfully rid her body of necrotic skin and tissue and close the abdomen. She awoke with gentle healing pads on her breast and a wound vac on her abdomen.

Sadly Alicia still has 6 weeks of radiation, 10 years of hormone blockers and recovery from chemo injures and multiple surgical procedures and potential temporary heart failure to conquer. Due to all of these unanticipated complications she was forced to put a equity line on her house on March 2024.

Prior to breast cancer Alicia was the primary bread winner for her household. Currently her husband is the only person working and brining in income. One can imagine the financial strain this has caused.

I am fundraising on her behalf and encourage anyone that has known or encountered someone with this terrible disease to donate to this cause. As a friend this has been an hard journey to witness and she has been in tremendous pain.